Having spent so much time living outside of the United States I've gotten used to being a little late on the news. I wake up in the morning and turn on my computer-- suddenly the Seahawks are winning a playoff game. The world events that effect me the most these days are halfway around the world. It upset me to wake up one morning to the news that Rep. Gabrielle Gifford had been shot in Tucson. I'm aware that in the states this is a huge topic of conversation, inspiring people to discuss gun safety laws, mental health, and extreme partisanship amongst many many other things. Being so far from home, with only a small group of Americans to discuss these issues, I feel uncomfortably isolated.
Whether I am in the States or in Bangkok, my group of people to discuss Tunisian politics with is usually rather small. Up until now, it has been mostly limited to a facebook message chain between myself and my classmates from my time abroad in Tunis. Today, President Ben Ali fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia and suddenly the whole world is interested in this tiny Northern African country.
I didn't really talk much politics on my blog while I was in Tunis because, well, I couldn't. Tunisians did not speak openly about politics out of fear of being arrested. I was even told I was better off just not saying Ben Ali's name in public at all. Ben Ali has been president of Tunisia for 23 years. The President before him, Bourguiba, was in office for the thirty years preceding him. It seemed to me that after fifty years and only two presidents, Tunisians had become resigned to their lot. There is a great deal of censorship and surveillance in Tunisia. Dealing with this became part of my life. I remember asking a friend once why Tunisians put up with it. The short answer is that things could be much worse and Tunisians considered themselves very lucky. Yes, there is some torture. Yes, the internet was often shut off in order to censor things (my roommates and I joked that Ben Ali had a giant switch in his office that he used to turn on and off the internet on a whim). But Tunisian women have many more rights than women in most Arab countries. Tunisia was the first Arab country to abolish polygamy and the first to legalize abortion. Also, over the past fifty years education has improved dramatically in Tunisia. I don't know the literacy rate off the top of my head, but I know that it is much higher than in many Arab countries. I heard rumblings of frustration about joblessness, but I never got so much as an inkling of an idea that Tunisia was ready for a revolution.
What good is having access to higher education if you cannot use it to find a job and improve your family's position in life? As frustrating as it is to be a young American in a difficult economy, I can only imagine how infuriating it must be to be a young Tunisian with an unresponsive government and no freedom of speech to TELL that government what you need. I have no idea what sort of government will be put in place now that Ben Ali has fled the country. This could be a long and difficult road that circles back to where it started, with no change for Tunisians. But if the people get what they want, it could end in a democracy. Either way, this revolution has finally opened up a discourse about political oppression in Tunisia and what needs to happen for the country to move forward.
After skyping with my Tunisian host family this morning I am very hopeful for them that this all will end happily. On one hand, they seem so joyful. They are incredibly proud that the Tunisians were able to get Ben Ali out of office without any outside help from another country. This was a movement of the people-- not of politicians. In their words, Tunisia is free now. On the other hand, they are scared. My host brother had just come back from doing a shift on a neighborhood guard patrol. My host mother said that she doesn't think she'll sleep tonight. They said that there is looting and violence in many areas, though mostly outside of Tunis, from what I could tell. The airport is closed and a state of emergency has been called. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with them and all the other lovely people I met in Tunisia.
It's good to hear that you are keeping up on things from the land of smiles. I too have been searching the news each day for updates. I guess things like this just become much more real when you know people living there and you have been there yourself. I have heard from the family who assure me all is okay. They were happy to have heard from all of us and seem to be excited yet nervous about what will come next. I hope you are doing well and I read your blog periodically and am jealous of all of the interesting things that you have been seeing and doing.
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